> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.verio.network/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.verio.network/token/overview.md).

# Overview & Utility

The unit of settlement and security for the Verio protocol.

$VERIO is the native utility and governance token of the Verio protocol. It is the unit of account and settlement for services settled through the protocol:

* applications use $VERIO to pay for execution, verification, and evaluation services;
* service providers receive $VERIO as payment for the work they perform;
* providers and verifiers stake $VERIO as performance collateral;
* token holders may take part in the governance of the protocol.

$VERIO is designed for consumptive use within the Verio protocol. It coordinates the exchange of verification services between the parties who supply them and the parties who consume them, and aligns publishers, providers, verifiers, and ecosystem contributors around the long-term operation of the network.

{% hint style="info" %}
Registering artifacts and emitting signed **V0** receipts remain available **without holding the token**.
{% endhint %}

## Utility

Each function is available only through active use of, or active contribution to, the network.

### Payment for verification services

$VERIO is the means of payment for services settled through the protocol, including audited, replayed, and redundant execution and verified evaluations.

* Pricing is set by transparent, protocol-defined mechanisms based on the **execution profile, verification class, and volume**.
* Prices are **quoted in US dollars** and converted at a time-weighted rate when a request is escrowed.
* Applications holding **stablecoins** can fund escrow directly; the settlement contract converts each deposit to $VERIO.

### Compensation for service providers

Participants that supply services receive $VERIO as direct payment for the work they actually perform or the artifacts they contribute.

* **90%** of fees is paid to service providers: the execution providers, verifiers, and upstream model and data contributors named by the provenance graph.
* **10%** is allocated to the protocol treasury to fund protocol development, security, and ecosystem operations.
* Compensation is tied to verified work: each fee's **holdback is released only after the challenge window closes** without a confirmed fault.

### Staking as performance collateral

Execution providers and verifiers serving **V1 and above** must stake $VERIO as performance collateral and as a service qualification. Staked $VERIO is a security deposit that may be partially or fully slashed if a participant:

* falsifies a receipt,
* fails to reveal a receipt selected for audit, or
* submits a replay contradicted in escalation.

Collateral requirements are expressed in dollar terms and determine each provider's covered capacity, so the $VERIO committed to the network grows with the audited volume it secures. Challengers, evaluators, and namespace holders post bonds on the same principle. Any fees received by staking participants are compensation for services actually provided, not a passive return on the tokens themselves. See [Staking & Economic Security](/network/staking-and-economic-security.md).

### Network access and service qualification

Holding and staking $VERIO is how a provider or verifier qualifies for audited service pools. Applications with elevated assurance requirements may require minimum collateral thresholds and operating histories, and verifier assignments are weighted by stake. This gating applies uniformly under protocol rules.

### Protocol governance

$VERIO holders may submit proposals and vote on protocol matters, including:

* artifact and receipt schemas,
* audit rates and challenge windows,
* slashing conditions,
* treasury programs,
* contract upgrades.

Parameters move only within bounds fixed in the contracts, and governance cannot rewrite the records of existing artifacts. Governance participation is voluntary and uncompensated: voting carries no economic entitlement, and governance rights do not confer any ownership, dividend, or profit-sharing interest in Verio Research Inc. or any affiliated entity. The purpose of governance is to progressively decentralize decision-making to the community that uses and operates the protocol.

## Economic sustainability

The value of verification is the loss it prevents. Audited receipts add roughly one percent to the cost of a request, while the value at risk behind agent transactions, routed traffic, and published evaluations is far larger. That margin can be shared among providers, verifiers, and upstream contributors without making assurance expensive.

Verio requires no purpose-built infrastructure: models stay on existing hubs, inference runs on existing providers, and only sampled or purchased requests are re-executed. The network compounds as it grows. Each registered artifact makes passports more useful, and each increase in audited volume raises both fees paid and collateral staked, while community incentives support participation during early growth. As fee volume grows, fee-funded verification carries a steadily larger share of the network's security, and Verio will report the indicators that show whether this transition is taking place (see [Roadmap](/roadmap.md)).